The school is performing well. Outcomes are strong, behaviour is orderly, and systems are largely secure. External accountability is positive and staff take pride in the school’s reputation.

However, improvement has begun to plateau. Gains are incremental rather than transformational. Practice is competent and reliable, but not consistently sharp. Innovation feels cautious, collaboration varies between departments, and strategic conversations often focus on maintaining standards rather than pushing boundaries.

The risk is not decline, but complacency. Over time, strong schools that do not deliberately raise the ceiling can lose momentum, struggle to adapt, and miss opportunities to achieve excellence for all pupils.

Year 1 focus: Moving from consistency to coherence and ambition

Phase 0. Senior leaders set direction

May to early June

Senior leaders complete the Leadership Behaviour Review first and analyse the evidence alongside performance data and lived experience.

The evidence suggests that:

• leadership practice is reliable but unevenly ambitious,
• teams operate effectively but often in isolation,
• priorities are clear but not always translated into precise action,
• improvement efforts lack sharp lead measures.

Using the five-step decision process, senior leaders agree that the core limiting factor is not competence, but coherence and ambition.

A small, disciplined set of behaviours is selected to shift leadership from maintaining performance to deliberately raising it.

Foundational leadership behaviours

These behaviours are already present but not yet secure enough to support sustained excellence. They are therefore treated as non-negotiable and actively reinforced.

• L1: Lead by example In high-performing schools, credibility depends on leaders modelling curiosity, precision, and ambition, not just reliability.
• L8: Don’t drop the ball Excellence requires follow-through at a higher standard. Small gaps in execution now have a disproportionate impact.
• S7: Communicate often As complexity increases, alignment depends on frequent, purposeful communication, not assumption.

These behaviours are reinforced throughout the year to prevent drift as expectations rise.

Whole-school focus behaviours (Year 1)

Senior leaders select two behaviours that directly support sharper improvement.

• S5: Establish collective goals To move from parallel effort to shared ambition and collective responsibility.
• S8: Find the lead measures To shift improvement from retrospective evaluation to predictive action.

These behaviours are chosen to increase precision, not workload.

How Year 1 unfolds in practice

Phase 1 and Phase 2. Build shared ambition and precision

June to September

Leaders deepen their understanding of the chosen behaviours before being asked to evaluate or plan change.

They use the book to understand the strategic intent behind each behaviour and the workbook to reflect on how ambition and coherence currently show up in their leadership practice.

They work through the leadership behaviour toolkits, which translate each behaviour into practical leadership actions, decision frameworks, and common traps in high-performing environments.

They also use the Coach and Practice sheets to rehearse scenarios linked to:

• stretching performance without increasing pressure,
• aligning teams around shared goals,
• challenging strong practice constructively.

Discussion during this phase focuses on:

• where improvement lacks sharpness,
• how goals are interpreted differently across teams,
• how leaders can raise expectations without destabilising culture.

What leaders practise

• defining and revisiting shared goals that go beyond compliance (S5: Establish collective goals)
• identifying small, predictive indicators of improvement (S8: Find the lead measures)
• modelling intellectual curiosity and ambition (L1: Lead by example)
• ensuring strategic decisions translate into consistent action (L8: Don’t drop the ball)
• reinforcing priorities clearly and repeatedly (S7: Communicate often)

There are no diagnostics, plans, or targets at this stage. The focus is judgement, not acceleration.

Phase 3. Senior leaders model excellence under pressure

September to October

Senior leaders deliberately model the chosen behaviours in every aspect of their role, including:

• strategy discussions,
• quality assurance conversations,
• line management and coaching,
• responses to strong but inconsistent practice,
• decision-making when trade-offs are required.

Leaders demonstrate that raising the ceiling means being more precise, not more demanding.

This phase builds confidence. Leaders see that ambition can be increased without undermining trust or morale.

Phase 4. Diagnostics and deeper sense-making

October to November

With shared experience in place, diagnostics now sharpen insight.

Leaders complete:

• the self diagnostic,
• the 360 diagnostic,
• the combined report.

Leaders interpret their results through the lens of ambition and coherence, revisiting relevant workbook sections, toolkits, and Coach and Practice sheets to deepen understanding of behaviours highlighted by the data.

Diagnostics are framed as refinement tools, not corrective measures.

Phase 5. First personalised 90-day development cycle

December to March

Leaders identify a real leadership challenge linked to raising standards and clarify:

• the specific outcome they want to improve,
• the behaviours most likely to move practice from strong to exceptional.

From this, leaders select a small number of behaviours and build a focused 90-day plan that includes:

• precise actions linked to those behaviours,
• opportunities to rehearse high-level conversations and decisions,
• agreed lead measures to track progress,
• structured reflection and review.

What leaders practise

• sharpening feedback conversations with high-performing colleagues,
• using lead measures to guide decisions in real time,
• aligning teams around ambitious, shared goals.

Toolkits and Coach and Practice sheets now support sustained habit formation rather than skill acquisition alone.

Looking ahead: Year 2 and Year 3

Year 2 focus: Deepening collective efficacy

As coherence improves, focus shifts to strengthening collaboration and shared accountability.

Likely focus behaviours include:

• T4: Create a team, to strengthen collective ownership,
• T10: Embracing accountability, to sustain high standards across teams.

Year 3 focus: Sustaining excellence and adaptability

With ambition embedded, leaders turn attention to future-proofing.

Likely focus behaviours include:

• S11: Break through limits, to challenge assumptions,
• S14: Anticipate unintended consequences, to lead with foresight and resilience.

Each year builds deliberately on the last. Excellence is treated as a discipline, not a destination.

Common mistakes in this scenario

• Assuming strong outcomes mean strong leadership behaviours.
• Avoiding challenge to protect morale.
• Measuring success only through lag indicators.

Why this approach works

This model:

• raises ambition without increasing noise,
• strengthens coherence before complexity,
• develops leadership precision through deliberate practice,
• and sustains excellence by design, not personality.

In high-performing schools, leadership behaviour is what separates good from great.